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May 5, 2016
Take a look at the growing group of prominent conservatives who are promising that they’ll never vote for Trump:
Rep. Louie Gohmert [R-TX]: "Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert balked at backing Trump without an apology for his rhetoric toward Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and warned that Trump could cost Republicans a majority in Congress. “I had no fear of losing the House until I saw this weekend the commercial against Sen. John Boozman in Arkansas. They run quote after quote from Donald Trump's mouth,” Gohmert told Fox Business Network. “This is a dangerous time.”"
Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling: "What are more traditional Republicans, who are not at all comfortable with Trump, supposed to do?"
Alan Steinberg, former regional EPA administrator under George W. Bush: "Said he's actually voting for Hillary Clinton, with whom he worked when she was U.S. senator for New York. "She can work with people on the opposite side of the political aisle," he said."
Andy Card, former White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush: "I'd probably write in a name."
CatholicVote: "We will not endorse Donald Trump for President at this time."
New York Times: With Donald Trump in Charge, Republicans Have a Day of Reckoning: "Over the last two days, more than 70 Republican governors, senators, representatives, officials and donors were contacted directly or through aides for comments about Mr. Trump. Only about 20 replied, with many aides saying their bosses did not want to take a stand yet; others begged off by saying the officials were traveling or “too busy” to email, call or release a statement."
Bloomberg: Big-Spending Fracking Family Behind Cruz Won't Back Trump: "Add the conservative Wilks family of Texas, among the biggest spenders in the presidential race so far, to the list of donors who won't support Donald Trump in the general election."
Politico: The [GOP] donor class remains unswayed: "Republican donors want nothing to do with Donald Trump [...] in interviews with more than a dozen major GOP funders, not one on Wednesday would commit to donating to Trump.
Washington Examiner: Conservative national security experts vow to keep fighting against Trump: "Conservative national security experts who vowed not to support Donald Trump are saying nothing has changed now that he is the presumptive nominee. "When I said 'never Trump,' I meant it," Colin Dueck, an associate professor at George Mason University's School of Policy, Government and International Affairs, told the Washington Examiner. Dueck was one of 121 conservative national security experts who signed an open letter in March promising to work "energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office.""
Loudon Times-Mirror [Virginia]: High-profile Virginia Republicans lining up against Donald Trump: "Many long-time Virginia Republicans found themselves despondent Wednesday after Donald Trump became the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee. “Twenty-nine years of Republican activism down the drain,” former state Del. David Ramadan, a Dulles-area conservative, told the Times-Mirror. “I feel like someone stuck a knife in me.”"
Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke: Steineke "who has called Trump “a liberal and a liar,” hedged in his opposition, but said Wednesday he does not currently support the presumptive nominee."
Burglinton, Iowa Tea Party Chairwoman Rose Kendall: "At this point, Kendall said she was unlikely to vote in November for any candidate."
Meanwhile, other prominent conservatives are working to distance themselves from Trump or not commenting on whether they will support him in November:
Washington Post: Mitt Romney will skip Trump’s nominating convention in Cleveland: Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, plans to skip this summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Donald Trump will be officially nominated -- an unusual move that underscores the deep unease many Republican leaders have about the brash celebrity mogul as their standard bearer.
Former Senator Bob Dole: “Despite the fact that Bob Dole is attending the RNC this year, he will not commit to voting for the Republican nominee in November."
Albuquerque Journal: Martinez not ready to endorse Trump: Republican Gov. Susana Martinez isn’t endorsing the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump – not now, anyway.
Reps. Steve Stivers & Pat Tiberi [R-OH]: "Neither House member mentioned whether they’d support Trump."
Rep. Steve King [R-IA]: “I’ve never seen a nominee pour out so many insults on other people as Donald Trump has,” King said. “This isn’t the day to highlight all those and grind through all that, but I’ll say this: Donald Trump will have to reach out to conservatives and do some convincing.”
Politico: McCain on tape: Trump damages my reelection hopes: ""If Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona, with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life,” McCain said, according to a recording of the event obtained by POLITICO. “If you listen or watch Hispanic media in the state and in the country, you will see that it is all anti-Trump. The Hispanic community is roused and angry in a way that I've never seen in 30 years.""
###
For Immediate Release, May 5, 2016
May 6, 2016
More Conservatives Unwilling to Risk a President Donald Trump
Three
days ago, Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for
president. Since then, conservatives from across the country have
been unwilling to back his divisive and dangerous candidacy, including nearly
every
living
GOP
nominee for president.
The list of well-known conservatives who do not support Trump keeps growing, and prominent conservatives continue to comment about how Trump as president is too big a risk for America:
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum: “Rick Santorum said on Wednesday that he would not endorse Donald Trump yet, saying that he would ‘sit on sidelines’ of the presidential race for the time being.”
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner: “Rauner aides stressed there are various levels of ‘support,’ and that the governor would not be giving Trump a formal endorsement.”
Rep. Barbara Comstock [R-VA]: “Comstock… listed several reasons why she felt the billionaire businessman was not a good role model, including his derogatory remarks about women and prisoners of war, and for not immediately disavowing the Ku Klux Klan. ‘All of these things are hugely problematic and don’t represent our party,’ she said at that time. ‘I don’t think somebody should represent my party who disrespects America’s veterans. We’re the party of Lincoln. We’re the party of Reagan.’”
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-WA]: “Count Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers among the Republican lawmakers who are hesitant about Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee….‘I would like to ask him questions about some of the statements he’s made.’ McMorris Rodgers said some of those questions would be about Trump’s statements regarding women, words she called ‘hurtful’ and ‘inappropriate’ in an interview with the New York Times in March.”
Rep.
Charlie
Dent
[R-PA]: "With the Republican nomination now
secured for Donald Trump, he has a great deal of work to do to convince
many Americans, myself included, that he is prepared and able to lead
this great nation."
Joe
Straus,
Texas
House
Speaker: “I thought the speaker of the
U.S. House had some interesting comments yesterday," Straus told The
Texas Tribune on Friday when asked if he planned to back Trump.
Pressed on whether he was agreeing with Ryan, Straus replied, "I will
just say that I thought his comments were well-thought out and made a
lot of sense to me."
Vermont Lt. Governor Phil Scott: “I cannot vote for Donald Trump,” Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican candidate for governor, said Wednesday during a break from presiding over the Senate. Scott has condemned Trump throughout the presidential campaign, once referring to him as “offensive.”
Former Rep. Bob Inglis [R-SC]: “@bobinglis: Very proud of Speaker Ryan: Paul Ryan Says He Cannot Support Donald Trump for Now”
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin: "Even though Donald Trump cleared the Republican presidential field after his victory Tuesday in Indiana and became the presumptive GOP nominee, Bevin, a Republican, said Thursday that it would be a mistake to endorse anyone yet."
Rep. John Katko [R-NY]: “Any candidate has to earn my vote, including Donald Trump. He has a lot of work to do in that regard. I'm concerned with some of the comments he's made, and with the general tone that he's taken."
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference: "To date Donald Trump's comments about immigration have been inflammatory, impractical and unhelpful," Rodriguez said in a statement. "Now that he is the presumptive nominee, we call upon him to immediately stop rhetorical commentary he has previously used that discredits groups, including Latino immigrants."
Eleanor May, former Rand Paul presidential campaign Press Secretary: "I can't vote for Donald Trump [...] and I fear that by nominating Donald Trump the GOP will forever lose the youth vote."
Doug Elmets, former press staffer in the Reagan White House: “It’s a bitter pill, but supporting Hillary Clinton is a much better alternative to the xenophobic Donald Trump,” Elmets wrote.
Mac Stipanovich, former Chief of Staff to Gov. Bob Martinez: “On a personal level, Trump is a boor, a bully, a carnival barker and an embarrassment. Politically, by intent or instinct, he is a neo-fascist… He appeals to our fears, preys on our anxieties and exploits our ignorance. A worse candidate to sit in the Oval Office for the next four years cannot be imagined.”
Andy Card, former White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush: "When he started to gain traction, I became a cynic. I wasn’t sure he could make it. I was saying, ‘sane people will recognize this is not going to happen.’ Well, it happened. He scared me.”
Mitt Romney: Politico: “Add Mitt Romney to the list of Republicans who won’t support Donald Trump as the presumptive party nominee… The former Massachusetts governor said he is ‘dismayed at where we are now’ and wishesAmericans had ‘better choices.’”
May 7, 2016
More Republicans Unwilling to Support Trump’s Unpredictable, Risky and Divisive Candidacy
Read the growing list of Republicans unwilling to support a President Donald Trump and fresh condemnations of Trump:
Rep. Ileana Ros – Lehtinen [R-FL]: “I don’t plan to vote for Donald Trump,” she said. “I don’t feel in my heart that I could support him."
GOP Senate candidate Chris Vance: Vance, who is challenging four-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, blasted Trump’s views on trade, economics and foreign policy as “naive,” “wrongheaded” and “insane.” As a former state GOP chairman, Vance said he takes “no joy” in refusing to support his party’s presidential candidate, “but I must place conscience and principle ahead of party.”
Former Gov. George V. Voinovich [R-OH]: “I wish we had a better candidate”
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer: "I'm not endorsing Donald Trump. He hasn't earned my vote."
Former Gov. Bob Taft [R-OH]: “Personally, I have very deep reservations about Trump.”
Former Lt. Gov. Bruce E. Johnson [R-OH]: “Donald Trump hasn’t impressed me at all with his 'wall' nonsense, the trade wars, the nuclear proliferation and his bullying attitude….I think for the sake of Rob Portman and (Westerville-area U.S. Rep.) Pat Tiberi and other state and local officials, I hope (Republicans) go to the polls. Whether they can find it in their conscience to vote for Donald Trump, I couldn’t care less.”
State Sen. Shannon Jones [R-OH]: “said just because Trump is now the Republican nominee ‘that doesn’t mean I have to support him.’”
Ward Baker, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee: “In a new sign of the Republican Party’s reservations about Mr. Trump, the top strategist in charge of defending Republican control of the Senate said in a briefing for lobbyists and donors on Thursday that the party’s candidates should feel free to skip the nominating convention in Cleveland in July.”
Dan Senor, former advisor to Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney: “Dan Senor… said Mr. Trump’s dismissive attitude toward his critics could have crippling consequences in a general election.”
Bill Kristol: “When you embrace the endorsement of a rapist… I deplore that. On the day of the Indiana primary he spins this conspiracy story about Ted Cruz’ father being complicit in the assassination of a president… I mean that level of willful disregard of all facts…it was the mocking of the disabled New York Times reporter, which is such a humanely grotesque thing to do.”
Lindsey Graham: “I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative...do not believe he is a reliable GOP conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as Commander in Chief.”
Jeb Bush: “Donald Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character. He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative. These are all reasons why I cannot support his candidacy.”
Jennifer Nassour, former chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party: “I'm hopeful that there will be someone else who is challenging Trump on the Republican ticket at the convention. If not, then write someone in. It's a shame to just waste our vote, but I cannot see myself voting for Trump.”
Copyright © 2016 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
All rights reserved.